Former boxer Kelly Pavlik says he was not drunk at Saturday’s Foo Fighters concert, and he also did not start a fight in the parking lot outside that resulted in a summons from Weathersfield police.
He insisted media reports to the contrary that appeared after the concert were wrong. He said he intends to file lawsuits against the media outlets responsible for them, and he will sue Weathersfield Township and Niles for his arrest over what was nothing more than a friendly wrestling match with a good friend.
“I am going all out,” he said. “I’ve got plenty of witnesses. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Weathersfield Police would not confirm Saturday that they had arrested Pavlik, saying that any police report on incidents at the concert would not be available until Monday.
The former middleweight champion said he attended the concert with a backstage pass. “I’m really good friends with the guys from Foo Fighters,” he said.
The noon concert was a celebration of National Record Store Day. It took place in the Pine Tree Plaza in a former sewing store with room for only 150 people inside. It was hosted by a store two doors down called The Record Connection. Store owner Jeff Burke said many people reported seeing Pavlik there and said he appeared to be intoxicated.
Burke did not see the incident involving Pavlik in the parking lot, adding that except for that, there were no problems.
Weathersfield police provided security there.
Pavlik said that after being backstage for awhile, he and his friend went out into the parking lot.
“We were playing around,” he said, and the next thing he knew, he was being handcuffed. His friend was upset, he said.
“He goes, ‘What are you doing? Why are you arresting him? We were just joking around,’ ” Pavlik said.
Pavlik said he got a summons, but he couldn’t say exactly what for.
“I threw it away,” he said. He added: “That’s OK. As long as I show up Tuesday in Niles court.”
Pavlik said reports of him drunk at the concert are “bull crap.” He was behind the drum set, not out in the crowd, he said.
Reports of him stumbling might be true, but attributable to health problems he has, he said.
“That’s why I retired,” he said. “I have a history of health problems. I walk funny.”
He also said he had been at a charity event in Cleveland for Akron Children’s Hospital immediately before the concert, and he did not arrive drunk.
He did drink at the concert, “But I was not hammered,” he said.
Pavlik, 33, was The Ring, WBC and WBO middleweight champion after beating Jermain Taylor on Sept. 29, 2007, until he lost his titles to Sergio Martinez on April 17, 2010.
Article Courtesy of The Vindicator